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STEAM vs. STEM

July 30, 2015

STEAM vs. STEM is an ongoing debate about the importance of art and design courses offered in public education institutions and whether or not they improve student behavior, test scores, and so on. The STEAM side argues that Art plays a vital role in letting students express themselves and helps them engage in critical, “outside the box” thinking. Even after 42 seasons of STEM-only teaching, famous children’s show Sesame Street decided to finally integrate the arts into its 43rd season. That said, pro-STEM advocates aren’t necessarily calling for the elimination of art and design classes in school, but instead wish to retain a higher focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, the core subjects that make up STEM.

Some facts that come out of STEM-only research shows that students who progress through at least Algebra II in high school are twice as likely to complete a four-year degree as opposed to those who don’t. Of 15 Major categories, Engineering has the highest median earning, yet less than 20% of students choose a STEM path. Lastly, women make up 23% of STEM workers, but make up 48% of all occupations. More information and summarized research can be found on this round-up by the National Math + Science Initiative.

While brilliant with technology, there are some personalities who STEAM advocates feel were the best of both worlds, such as Albert Einstein, Marissa Mayer, and Steve Jobs, the latter who revolutionized how marketing is done today. William Yu, an economist with the Anderson Forecast at UCLA, states that as more jobs become machine-reliant, alongside economic shifts from agriculture to mechanical, “robots and foreign labors will never be able to replace creative people in creating sectors making new and desirable products and services.”  Alongside this, this piece by edutopia.org explores exactly what skills apply to adding the “A” in STEAM. The program mentioned includes the Four C’s: creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. By breaking these segments down, professors are more capable of allowing students to take advantage of their education; something that is evidenced by research showing more students wish they had learner agency in STEM education.

Shifting gears, as more machines are developed to help industrial markets and manufacturers, it’s important to note what jobs STEM-geared education creates. For example, in the die-casting industry, half of the jobs wanted require four years of education or more just to reach entry level. While not all of these jobs fall into this spectrum, they include engineering, IT staff, drivers, mechanics, nurses, machinists, and operators. According to this 2015 report by the North American Die Casting Association (slide 20), as the volume of castings required grows, the minimum number of workers hired annually will also increase. This will eventually lead to a need for, at minimum, 2,500 new operators and technicians.

Job processes for these careers include operating machinery, casting, maintenance, safety and energy management, tool designing, and melting and handling. With such an array of specialized job functions, it’s easy to see why half of the top 10 most difficult positions in die casting are hard to fill. Where STEM seems to fall short is within the creation process of prototypes or newly realized tools. The “A” in STEAM better serves those who seek to change how tools work and the convenience they bring to the table, while STEM focuses more on bringing those concepts into reality.

Regardless of the side chosen, education drives markets forward. STEAM vs. STEM may still be an ongoing debate but it’s important to know where to draw the line in the sand and focus on the benefits of each. Does your business grow and prosper more from a creative or mechanical standpoint?

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Pace Industries: A Day In the Life

July 16, 2015

Pace Industries is the leading full-service die casting company in North America. Our Harrison warehouse is more than 600,000 square feet where we specialize in die casting zinc, aluminum and magnesium.

Die casting is a quick and more cost effective production process that produces a high volume of parts than other casting processes.

Aluminum die casting has become the first option among buyers worldwide because of its cost effectiveness and the various finishes it can be cast in. This is possible because its structure is light, strong, corrosion resistant, non-staining, non-magnetic and highly conductive. Buyers in this industry also like that the aluminum alloy is 95% post-consumer recycled material, making the die casts green and sustainable.

Some of our capabilities include Robotic Extraction, Hot Oil Die Heaters, Automated Sanding Cells and much more.

Our die cast machines ranging from 600-1800 ton allows us to serve many industries.

Get to know us a bit better by taking a look at a day in the life at Pace Industries.

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Pace Industries and Port City Division Merge to Create one of North America’s Largest Die Casting Companies

July 15, 2015

We are excited to welcome Port City Division to the Pace family. Together we look forward to working together to take advantage of all the best practices and synergies to help stay at the forefront of the industry and continue to provide uncommon, creative solutions which contribute to the success of our customers.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., and MUSKEGON, Mich., July 1, 2015 – Pace Industries, North America’s largest full-service aluminum, zinc and magnesium die casting company based in Fayetteville, Ark., announces the merger with Port City Division in Muskegon, Mich. The merger will provide die casting, machining, manufacturing and finishing capabilities across diverse industries including automotive, lighting, electrical, recreational and others.

The combined company will consist of 12 divisions and 21 facilities with sales of approximately $600 million across the United States and Mexico.

Pace Industries President and CEO Scott Bull said, “Blending the strengths of Pace and Port City Division will result in a formidable automotive supplier and preferred non-automotive supplier in the die casting industry and build our capabilities to deliver better quality, service and value to customers.”

Port City Division will become a division of Pace Industries. John Essex will remain CEO of Port City Division, join the Pace Board of Directors, and become one of its largest shareholders while leading Pace’s automotive growth strategy.

Essex said, “Over the last few years, it became apparent that we needed a platform for our growth that would provide us greater geographical reach than what we had with our Michigan-based facilities. This merger will provide needed capacity in closer proximity to some of our customers in North America while expanding our production capability.”

According to Bull, the companies will work together to take full advantage of best practices and synergies, which will provide both organizations the capabilities and resources to meet and exceed customer expectations.

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